Her Story
About Rachel
I founded the Jacksonville Greater Haitian American Chamber of Commerce, where I serve as president. In this role, I'm curating and allowing people to create committees and boards, helping with event coordination and planning, and creating marketing to bring in new members. I wear a lot of hats right now as the leader, and I'm currently interviewing people for committees so it's not just me doing everything. I also own Roots to Resolve, which has been operating for about 2 years. It's an educational and therapeutic expression space where I work with life coaches, somatic coaches, and different modes of liberation, healing, and wellness. For that business, I do a lot of workshop facilitation work and education. I became a holistic doula to help support both birth and death, so I do birth health work as well as end-of-life care work. I'm a qualified medical interpreter doing medical interpretation as well as school and corporate interpretation. As a somatic coach, I'm part of the solution to the mental health crisis, helping people find their space and giving them tools to help understand systems. I'm also a public health professional who works on building curriculum. I was born in Haiti and came here after the 2010 earthquake. I've gone through trying to find belonging and meaning and healing, and I think it's ingrained in my culture first, but also mostly wanting to have a more peaceful and joyful life and making sure my life means something. I wasn't a survivor without a purpose.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Rachel
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my background and personal journey. I was born in Haiti and came here after the 2010 earthquake. I've gone through trying to find belonging and meaning and healing, and I think it's ingrained in my culture first, but also mostly wanting to have a more peaceful and joyful life. I want to make sure my life means something and that I wasn't a survivor without a purpose. That drive to create meaning from my experiences and to help others has been the foundation of everything I do.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received is taking things one step at a time. This has helped me manage all the different roles and responsibilities I have without getting overwhelmed, and it's allowed me to build my career and organizations steadily and sustainably.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering this field is to take up space. You are very much so capable. Do the work, and don't be afraid of failure or success. You deserve to try. I think it's important to know that you have every right to be in these spaces and to make an impact, so don't hold back because of fear.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge in my field right now is that there's not a lot of people who are willing and taking space, who are doing the work. We need more people being qualified and actually doing healing work, bridging the gaps in community work. There's a real need for more practitioners who are committed to this kind of sustainable, meaningful change in our communities.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me in my work and personal life are transparency, empathy and understanding, and integrity. I'm a person who is very profound and really cares about others and how we interact with the world. I feel like there's a lot of fluff in a lot of spaces where people want real help, but they're getting things that are just temporary, so I want to be part of the solution of long-term and sustainable change. These values guide everything I do.
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